


A Progression of Third Wheels

by corvidae9



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F, F/M, Multi, flamingnargles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-11-06
Updated: 2005-11-06
Packaged: 2021-03-16 19:55:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29459367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/corvidae9/pseuds/corvidae9
Summary: Luna is fine with ambiguity until it becomes a little ridiculous... even by her standards. (Harry/Ginny/Luna)
Relationships: Luna Lovegood/Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley
Kudos: 6





	A Progression of Third Wheels

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the flamingnargle challenge: Luna convinces the other two it's time to tell friends and family about their relationship.

Luna woke up as she usually did; dead center of a cluster of nubile, half-clothed twentysomethings; Harry usually smashed up against her back, arm around her middle; Ginny's legs tangled around hers, long red strands of hair spilling over the pillow and inevitably in Luna's face.

Smiling sleepily, Luna had to admit, there were worse ways to start the day.

Pulling carefully away so as not to disturb them, Luna crawled out of bed and into the bathroom, shedding her knickers and tank top and stepping directly into the shower stall. Turning the water hot enough to steam the mirrors, she sighed and reached for the shampoo, sinking into the warm comfort of the spray.

Twenty minutes later, freshly scrubbed and teeth brushed, Luna tied her hair into a loose bun and wrapped herself in a dressing gown that was probably Harry's, given that it trailed down past her feet. A cursory look confirmed it-- green definitely meant Harry's robe. Stepping out into the bedroom again, she heard them before she saw them; a low murmur and a higher giggle that drew her attention. Ginny's leg was draped lazily over Harry's hip, foot poking out from under the blanket, her hand cupping his face; his arm around her, hand between her shoulderblades.

Luna smiled and tiptoed across the room, but Ginny called out after her. "Luuuuu-na. Come back to bed. I'm trying to wake Harry up, but he says he's tired."

Biting her lip, Luna smiled, disappearing into the closet, her eternally calm voice floating out from past the half-shut door. "Then you should let him sleep, love. He's had a hard twenty-one years. I'd say he deserves rest."

She could hear Harry laugh even as Ginny protested, "I'll wake him up, you'll see." Harry's laugh went a bit strangled and Ginny continued. "And then you'll be sorry you didn't want to play."

Shucking the dressing gown off, the urge to climb back into bed was nearly overwhelming, but she had work to do. Luna picked a pair of bright yellow knickers and a matching bra as she called out, "I know I will love, but it's terribly rude of you to remind me of all the things I'll be missing as I toil over a hot quill and somehow work out how to make all of the sentences in the first and last paragraphs of the lead story spell 'Harry' and 'Ginny'."

Gratified by Ginny's loud laughter, Luna tapped her finger on her chin, staring at her side of the charmed-triangular closet, trying to decide between the fuzzy green jumper or the stripy dress with the asymetrical neckline. Harry's voice finally followed (albeit a little shaky) as Luna pulled the stripy dress on. "Luna. Her hands are in the most embarrassing place. She's serious about this not sleeping business. Spare a few minutes for us?"

Luna stepped out of the closet to find Ginny straddling Harry's hips, his hands creeping up her thighs, the look on her face utterly predatory. Smirking, she walked directly over to them and took her wand from the nightstand, bending to kiss Harry's cheek. "Have fun my darlings. Daddy has a meeting with the boys at nine and I need to be there to make sure that the layout's done for next week." Straightening, she moved to kiss Ginny as well, but Ginny (of course) turned into the kiss, her lips crashing into Luna's, her hand sliding around the nape of her neck.

Harry's hand had somehow slipped from Ginny's body to Luna's thigh, just under her dress, his hand slipping up and around her bottom to tease at the edge of her shiny clean knickers. "Just fifteen minutes, Luna. We'll get you to work on time."

Considering that her hand was already trailing downward along Harry's stomach, Luna was not surprised in the least to find herself agreeing without having said a word.

###

In fact, ten minutes late to the office, she found Colin sitting on her desk, looking bored. "Late again, Miss Lovegood." His wicked grin expanded at the look on her face, and he waggled his eyebrows exaggeratedly as he added, "How's Harry these days?"

Luna smiled serenely and circled her desk. "Good morning Mr. Creevey. He's just fine thank you. He'd send his regards I'm sure, but he's probably still asleep."

Colin turned to regard her over his shoulder, still looking insufferably smug. "Yeah? That's good. Must be nice."

Arching her eyebrow, Luna held her hand out. "Photos for the article, are done, I assume? And yes. Generally after spending nine and one half months teaching, one tends to enjoy spending the summers sleeping in."

He hopped off of her desk and handed her a thick manila envelope, leaning on her desk, entirely too amused. "Yes, boss." Pausing for a moment, his eyes darting to the window and back, he finally blurted, "Hey Lu- Ginny been around lately?"

Taking the envelope, Luna undid the clasp and slid the photos onto her desktop, examining them closely. "Yes, Colin. You know she's my flatmate, that's how it usually happens."

Colin twisted his camera strap between his fingers. "Yeah? Yeah. That's good. Think she'll be at the party down at the house this weekend? Think she'd want to dance with me?"

Luna picked out two of the photographs, marked on the backs, and handed them to Colin, her voice belying none of the incredible amusement she was feeling at this very moment. "Take these to Phillips, please. Tell him to run this one on the front page, and the other with the continuation of the story on page six. And she might, but I'm afraid she's seeing someone at the moment."

Shoulders slumping, Colin looked down at the photos. "Yeah. Of course. Sure. Thanks. See you later?"

Smiling as she looked up, Luna waved, "Bye Colin. Sorry. Yes, later."

###

The meeting went relatively well, and Luna was glad to be back on track with her morning after stopping by her father's office for a cheerful good morning hug, seeing as how meetings were not necessarily conducive to hugging. She walked over to Design and checked in on the new ad formats, discussed the late-breaking story on the newest breakdown in the Loch Ness wards with her staff reporters (a shoddy job from day one, to be sure), and finally found that it was time for lunch. Grinning, she grabbed her bag and Flooed to Diagon Alley, hurrying down to the cafe where Neville was sitting patiently, cup of tea in hand.

"Neville! Hi!"

Nearly upsetting his teacup as he set it down and stood, Neville smiled shyly even as she hugged him. "Hi Luna," he murmured as he patted her back awkwardly. 

Standing back, Luna smiled radiantly. "I am very happy to see you, my Neville. It's been too long."

Flushing, embarrassed, Neville pulled out her chair before settling in his own. "We um. Had dinner last week, Luna."

Luna nodded gravely as she unfolded her napkin and set it across her lap. "And as such, it has been too long. Especially for someone that used to sleep down the hall. I find that I miss the profusion of green things, as well as the money that I spent on new stockings thanks to Howard. How is the little mass of fluff?" 

"Howard? He's great. The wards keeping him off of the plants in the new place are working fine, and he's found a ledge in direct sunlight that has become his favorite new place to sleep." Neville smiled as he pulled his own napkin, his silverware clattering to the table even as he gathered them onto his place setting. "So. Harry's spending the summer with you?"

The corner of her mouth quirked upward as she grinned. "He is. There's plenty of room in the flat for the three of us for a few months. Especially since training starts up in a few weeks and Gin will be off showing off for her fans more often than not." Still grinning around her water glass, Luna added, "In the meantime, they keep each other busy enough I'd wager. Harry is teaching her to play games on his 'Playstation'".

Neville's face fell a little, trying to cover it by murmuring his order to the waiter-- as if Luna wouldn't notice.

Luna ordered things with ingredients that sounded lovely and translucent red wine, examining Neville over the rim of the glass, finally reaching over to take his hand. "Nev?"

He shook his head slightly as he lifted his pint, squeezing her hand. "'Snothing. I um. Ran into Harry the other day and-- yeah. So they're... again?" 

Internally wincing, Luna bit her lip. That crush on Harry he'd been nursing for well near three years, of course. "I'm afraid he's still extraordinarily heterosexual, darling. I'm so sorry." Not quite as sorry, perhaps, as she would be when he discovered the truth of the situation, but very sorry nonetheless.

A shadow fell across the table just as Neville brought her hand to his lips for a very chaste, friendly kiss to her knuckles. "It's alr-"

A deep, surly voice interrupted his sentence. "This is cozy." 

Luna looked up and caught sight of Ron looming over the table arms crossed, Hermione rolling her eyes and tugging on his elbow with an apologetic smile. "Hi! Luna! Neville! So good to see you! Isn't it good to see them, Ron?" 

Unfortunately, Ron did not look like he thought any of this was good as he continued to glare at Luna. "How's Gin, Luna? She know you're here seeing _him_?" His last word was punctuated with a forceful inclination of his head toward Neville, who looked rather confused.

Ah. That would be the problem. Luna smiled serenely at Ron, unperturbed. "Absolutely. And it _is_ quite good to see you. Dinner on Sunday was fantastic, wasn't it? Your mother still makes the best treacle tart."

Hermione nodded, still discreetly trying to pull Ron back, "Completely agreed! And now that the term's over we'll all be seeing Harry at dinner more often, and I think we're all grateful for that. Speaking of which, I meant to talk to you on Sunday but the three of you left so quickly." Her eyes darted to Neville and back to Luna, her smile unwavering. "Ron and I have an extra room at our place, you know, if you and Ginny need the... um. Privacy. You know. Space to yourselves. Harry's welcome to stay with us for the summer. Anytime."

More highly amused than she had been in quite some time --and that was saying something these days-- Luna grinned. "Thank you very much, Hermione. That's very considerate. We'll definitely keep that in mind."

Apparenty satisfied, Ron backed off with a decisive nod. "You do that."

Smiling, Hermione looped her arm through Ron's. "We should probably get back to the shop and let you get back to lunch. We'll see you Sunday?"

Luna reached out and squeezed Hermione's hand. "Yes. Wouldn't miss it."

Hermione nodded, pleased. "Neville, you should come too - you know how Molly loves guests. I'll Floo ahead and let her know?"

Neville simply looked confused, waving and murmuring 'yeah sure, bye' as Ron and Hermione walked away without waiting for a reply. Shaking his head slightly, he turned to Luna. "Do you, um, know what that was about?"

Her eyes focused on the couple walking away, Luna smiled again as Hermione turned and mouthed 'sorry'. "Yes. I'm afraid I do. He means well- it's really rather endearing. I think I like being part of the Weasley family."

More confused than ever, Neville turned his attention to the plates being set before them. "OK. I think."

###

Luna finished her lunch with Neville and in fact, the remainder of her day without incident, Apparating home to her doorstep with a wide, spacey grin on her face. She opened the door to find Harry and Ginny sprawled on the sofa, her bare legs poking out from under his pjyama top, half-draped across his pyjama-bottomed lap, both of them staring practically through the telly. Both hunched and making little noises of concentration, Ginny waving her controller around frantically (though pointedly less so than when the lessons had first begun).

Hands on her hips, Luna stared too, fascinated by the whirl of color and bright vehicles racing along at impossible angles on the screen. "My goodness. That is very loud, isn't it? Are you doing well? Who's winning?"

Harry looked up at Luna, his concentration broken, and Ginny shot to her feet, pumping her fist in the air. "Yesssss! You snooze, you lose, Potter!"

Luna grinned at both of them and took a step forward. "Well done Ginny. Better luck next time, Harry. My loves. We really need to talk about how to explain our arrangement to our friends. And I believe we should order take away because I am famished."

Ginny and Harry looked at her as if she'd declared that she was the empress of sovereign state of mad declarations, and Luna was certain that this was exactly how she liked them both best. 

"I'll explain over dinner."


End file.
